Paul Taylor is not a man to watch his steps. Anyone who considers modern dance to be a soft crossover into ballet, or just a whimsical way of looking at a wild world, should be encouraged by the waspish vitriol which informs the work of this provocative master choreographer. Who else would create a dance about American society in the ragtime era, let the good times roll throughout . . . then invite in the Ku Klux Klan? And there are not too many toe-tappers who can send audiences scurrying to William Golding's novel Lord Of The Flies or the movies of official Nazi film-maker Leni Riefenstahl for points of reference. Taylor, who learned his routines in the 1950s, treading the boards in the exalted companies of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham, has been directing his own, eponymous outfit for 45 years. So loaded with honours is he that if he wore a uniform he would not have room for all the ribbons. He is an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, he holds seven honorary doctor of fine arts degrees and three Guggenheim fellowships, and he is the proud possessor of the United States' National Medal of Arts, an Emmy and a bucketful of other gongs. He has led his troops into more than 400 cities in 60 countries . . . and has created, according to company manager John Tomlinson, 'some dark, ugly, evil and violent' dances. Speaking from their New York headquarters as the company prepared to leave for Macau, where they will perform two shows this month, Tomlinson confirmed that Taylor's was not an easy vision to categorise. 'Paul's big problem is that he has such a variety of creations to choose from when it comes to performance,' he said. 'He's written beautiful, light, airy pieces, fluffy entertainment and avant-garde, abstract and evil works. One features rape, incest, murder and child abuse - not a nice show. People ask: 'How can one guy be going in all these different directions?' 'For each city we play, Paul looks at the venue, where it is in the world, and what we've already done there before deciding what to present. And he has a wicked sense of humour.' What, then, can we expect from the company's first visit to Macau? 'Paul might ask: 'Should a piece be light, do the people need to be entertained? Or do I want to be a social agitator? Are they in political turmoil? What's going on?' 'So I don't think it's an accident that in Macau we'll be doing The Word,' Tomlinson said. 'The full title is The Word - For Our God Is A Consuming Fire, which of course is from the Bible. It is an eerie piece which deals with religion, government and the military, and the point is that Paul is never happy with conformity. The Word examines how people become mechanised and will follow anything. He asks if that's a good thing. Conformity is bad.' In trademark, tantalising style, however, the audience's hand will be held only so far: Taylor will lead them to the evidence and he will make them think - but they have to reach their own conclusions. 'He doesn't want to say 'this is about this, that is about that', because then you can't be an active member of the audience, because you've already been told what to think. You must decide for yourself what the message is,' Tomlinson said. 'As [writer] Marshal McLuhan said: 'The medium is the message.' Paul leaves it at that. He believes the ultimate denial of freedom of speech is the setting of parameters.' Other pieces chosen for Macau include Arden Court - 'a celebration of the men in the company; it's a dance where for once they're not just fancy lifting machines', Tomlinson said - and Esplanade, performed to the music of Bach, and which Tomlinson described as 'classic' Taylor. 'Modern dance was getting a bad rap, so he took the simplest music, costumes and movements, and demystified it,' he said. The company will also perform Piazzola Caldera, which tells the story of the birth of tango in Buenos Aires . . . and features none of its steps. 'That piece has tremendous sexual tension and leans towards violence,' Tomlinson said. 'After all, tango began in the crowded bordellos.' Each piece, and each detail of each piece, performed by his 16-member troupe, is scrutinised by Taylor, who, at 69, remains emphatically the leading man. 'He really is the father of the family,' Tomlinson said. 'He's our benevolent dictator. I said something recently at a meeting and he turned to me and snapped: 'Don't forget who writes the policy here.' And he's the only one who hires and fires.' After Macau, the group, as government-approved cultural ambassadors for the US, will perform in Jakarta. Despite the troubles, they remain determined to go. 'We're going there on official business,' Tomlinson said drily. 'The State Department won't take us if it's not safe. It would be bad PR.' Paul Taylor Dance Company, November 19 and 20, 8pm, Macau Cultural Centre. Call 7171 7171 for ticket information. Tickets $280, $230, $150 and $100
